Germany Edges Uruguay in Five-Goal Thriller
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Germany has claimed third place at the 2010 FIFA World Cup with an action-packed 3-2 victory over Uruguay at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
Germany came from a goal down in the second half to secure a spot on the podium following goals to Thomas Müller, Marcell Jansen and Sami Khedira which cancelled out strikes on either side of half-time by Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan.
Uruguay generated an early statement of intent following yellow cards to Germany’s Dennis Aogo and Cacau in the first five minutes, with Forlan hitting a fiercely curling free-kick just over the bar from what was a dangerous position.
Germany then settled immediately fashioning its first chance in the tenth minute from a corner as Arne Friedrich rose above two Uruguayan defenders to fire a close-range header onto the crossbar.
As expected, the match was already threatening to break open with devastation in the early stages; and indeed, it was Germany who opened up proceedings in the 19th minute through Müller.
From a previously blocked attempt, the ball fell invitingly for Bastian Schweinsteiger, who sized up a shot from well outside the area.
With Schweinsteiger’s strike erratically swerving and dipping, Uruguayan goalkeeper, Fernando Muslera, misread the flight of the ball parrying it straight into the path of Müller, who made no mistake from ten yards out with a rather straightforward sidefooted effort.
Uruguay wasn’t without its moments however and it equalised in brilliant fashion on the 28-minute mark after Schweinsteiger was brilliantly dispossessed by Diego Perez.
Perez subsequently slid a pass to Uruguayan striker, Luis Suarez, who bolted towards the German defence before supplying Cavani with the opportunity to slot the ball past German goalkeeper, Hans-Jörg Butt, from close-range.
Uruguay then had a fabulous chance to take the lead three minutes before the break when Suarez sprung the offside from a clever through-ball by Forlan; but with Suarez bereft of options when advancing into the area, he inevitably chose to shoot firing a low drive just wide of the mark from a somewhat acute angle.
The Uruguayans were clearly in the mood following the resumption of play and within three minute of the restart, Butt needed to make an instinctive double save to deny La Celeste from stealing the lead off of the Germans.
Firstly, Cavani broke the lines only to be thwarted by Butt when one-on-one with the German ’keeper; and with the ball staying in play, Cavani subsequently fed Suarez who drew a wonderful one-handed block from Butt – yet the shot was probably going wide anyway.
The South Americans continued to terrorise the Germans, and it was Egidio Arevalo who played a spectacular part in Uruguay’s second goal from his meaty challenge on Jansen.
As Arevalo won the ball back for Uruguay, he exchanged passes with Suarez down the right flank before crossing for Forlan to thump a sumptuous volley home on the bounce, which left Butt rooted to the spot.
Germany didn’t panic and levelled the scores five minutes later as a deep centre from the right wing by Jerome Boateng was headed into an empty net by Jansen.
It must be said however that Muslera was at fault for the goal failing to deal with Boateng’s centre; and to rub salt into the wound for the Uruguayan ’keeper, Jansen appeared to know little about the header.
Following a long-range Suarez effort that Butt acrobatically pummelled away in the 62nd minute, Forlan extracted a smart smothering stop from Butt three minutes later as the Atletico Madrid striker attempted to lift the ball over the German veteran from the tightest of angles.
Subsequent to a sustained amount of pressure on the Uruguayan goal by the Germans after the Forlan attempt, Stefan Kiessling produced a goal-bound strike on the 75th minute; however, it was directed straight at Muslera who competently prevented the shot with aplomb.
Germany unsurprisingly retook the lead in the 82nd minute from a corner that the Uruguayan defence didn’t successfully clear.
With the Jabulani pinballing in every direction just outside the six-yard box, Sami Khedira was Johnny-on-the-spot looping a firm header over Muslera and just inside the far post to make it 3-2.
Die Nationalmannschaft sensed the opportunity to further extend its advantage when Boateng’s drive was well-held by Muslera, but there was one more piece of drama left in this footballing extravaganza.
In the midst of the match looking well out of Uruguay’s reach going into injury-time, the South Americans won a free-kick in Diego Forlan territory during the very last minute; and up stepped Forlan with anticipation as he cannoned the set-piece off of the crossbar with the last kick of the game, with Butt seemingly beaten.
It was tough on the Uruguayans who performed so admirably throughout the tournament; but with a youthful German side which has so much more to offer in the future, both countries can leave the 2010 FIFA World Cup with their heads held high.
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